Sunday, October 18, 2009

Our Most Popular: The Stick Dulcimer





Just three strings and just the important frets! Anyone can play a stick dulcimer with about 3 minutes of practice. Automatically tuned to a major scale, and the addition of a capo at fret #1 shifts you to a minor scale so you can play those darker tunes, too! Easy to tune by ear, easy to play by ear!

New this year - the Blues-cimer with just those blues-scale notes! Even if your music theory skills are a bit rusty, you'll be playing the blues right from the get-go!

Open tunings like DAd or GDg makes every strum a pleasure.


The 3-String Guitar


Still the simplicity of 3 strings, but chromatic (all of the!) frets. Play major, minor, mixolydian, accidentals, blues - anything and everything! Same open tunings as our Stick Dulcimers.



4-String Tenor Guitar


Short scale, tuned GDAE - just like a mandolin or a fiddle. Lots of easy chords that need only two fingers. Pick out a melody or strum for back-up. We'll give you a chord chart to get you started!


The Dual 3-String -
where the magic really happens!



Kind of like a bouzouki, a mandolin, a Cuban trés -- a worldwide tradition! The extra strings are often paired in octaves to add even more sparkle to your playing. So much sound out of just a simple instrument!

Common tunings we've used are: DD-AA-dd, Dd-Aa-dd', Gg-Dd-gg, etc. When strings are paired in octaves, you can easily play melody lines on all strings and have them ring out.